Yesterday’s announcement that a board of non-elected “officials” who are overseeing the redevelopment of Tiger Stadium voted to demolish what remains of Tiger Stadium came as a complete shock. Welcome to a day in the life of Detroit.
To my knowledge, no one even knew the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) was meeting on the subject. In fact, I can’t even name one member of the board. Who are these clowns? And how is it that they have been handed so much power without any accountability?
My family has been in business in the Briggs/Tiger Stadium neighborhood since 1943. That’s 66 years and counting. You’d think that maybe — just maybe — someone from the city would talk to us from time to time. Instead, we hear about such “plans” from non-elected boards, commissions, groups, authorities and government corporations the same way everyone else does: through obnoxious announcements like yesterday’s conducted through strategically timed press releases and leaks.
Tiger Stadium is like a political prisoner who sits on death row awaiting word on his fate. Will the governor grant a stay of execution? Or will the prisoner be put to death? It’s a sad commentary on city politics when those types of decisions are put into the hands of those who have no accountability and were not even elected. Welcome to Detroit. At least what’s left of it.